Eclipse
by Witch of Lock
Summary: Aichi wakes up in the middle of the night to a citywide power outage. He leaves the house to go stargazing, during which he meets up with Kai...


Aichi woke up to the pitch-black night. Usually the city lights from outside his window filtered in, but he had a hard time even making out his hand. When he turned to check the time, he noticed the electric clock beside his bed was blank.

"The power's out..." he mumbled. Unable to go back to sleep, Aichi instead opted to get dressed. He fumbled around, managing to find a flashlight from some desk drawer, and then positioned it on a shelf so he could see the closet.

A pink turtleneck and a white jacket were the tops he picked out. It was his usual outfit, plain and simple. However, he paused and removed an old outfit from his junior high days.

"Double sleeves? What was I thinking..." he mumbled, throwing it aside, "I must have looked so silly in that." Aichi pulled off his pajamas and replaced it with his usual outfit. "Now that I think about it... I've grown a little...I wonder... ." Aichi removed yet another item from his closet-a greenish jacket that only went to his midriff. The boy removed his white jacket and attempted to pull on the old one. He could feel the seams pulling to their limit and the jacket ended at the middle of his ribcage. He laughed and removed it immediately. "Yup! It's too small now!" Aichi put his newer one back on and grasped the flashlight before exiting the room.

No one was awake, that was for sure. Aichi snuck past Emi's room and stepped lightly down the stairs to the door. He wanted to see the stars. It was hard to see them because of the city lights, but the power outage provided the perfect opportunity to see them. Aichi slipped on his shoes and opened the door.

"They're so pretty..." Aichi noted, staring upward. He was mesmerized with the way the silver moon shone. It was bright enough to light his path, but dim enough that the stars weren't lost to him.

Aichi didn't want to just sit around and look foolish, so he started walking. His surroundings were empty. The world was made of only him and the sky, at least for that night.

He kept his pace. Aichi placed one foot in front of the other, but he still kept his eyes on the moon. No matter how many steps he took in its direction, it was still far away. It kept shining, however, and that was enough to make him warm.

After what seemed to be hours upon hours of empty steps, he found himself at the park he used to play in as a child. He grasped the gate and just stood there, watching the sky. It was around that time he heard the creaking of the chains of a swing set and the silhouetted steps that followed.

"Aichi? is that you?" The voice was more concerned than anything. Aichi's attention refocused from the moon to the figure.

"Kai?!" Aichi ran over to meet him.

"It's two in the morning. What are you doing out here?" Aichi could barely make out his face from the angle, but he knew it had to be Kai.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" Aichi teased. Kai turned slightly so the moonlight caught his green eyes.

"The power is out, so I decided to come here and see the stars. It's the best view from the swings," he explained.

"Really?" Aichi asked. From what he said, he figured Kai must go stargazing often.

"Mm. Why don't you join me tonight?" Kai led the way to the swing set and sat on the nearest one. Aichi plopped himself down on the one next to him.

"Are you out here often?" he asked.

"Only when the power's out. There's supposed to be a total lunar eclipse tonight so the power outage was perfect timing."

"You must really like the stars..."

"Yeah. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little..." Kai said without thinking.

"That's a side of you I've never seen before, Kai."

"Did... Did I actually say that out loud?"

"You did," Aichi giggled.

"Well... I guess it's okay to tell you... When I was little, my parents would take me camping every summer. On the clearest night, my dad would wake me up and show me all the stars and what their names were," Kai reached out and pointed at one of them, "There's Vega, for example. I was so enamored with them all. I wanted to be a part of them..."

"That's just like you, Kai." Aichi smiled, imagining a younger version of Kai sharing happy memories with the parents he would never meet.

"The stars lost their luster after he and Mom died. I mostly come out here to remember the time I spent with them." He relaxed his hand on the chains and allowed them to slide down a little. He fixed his gaze on Aichi. "Please, keep everything tonight between you and me."

"Of course, Kai..." The two shared the silence for a moment before Aichi spoke again.

"This reminds me of the time we watched the fireworks during the Asia Circuit, remember?"

"Of course I remember."

"I'm glad."

"Aichi watched how the moon was slowly becoming enveloped by the earth's shadow. The eclipse was beginning and the silver light that Aichi loved so dearly was about to be shut out. It was at that time that Kai took a deep breath and posed a heavy question.

"Do you ever wonder If the moon fakes it?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"The moon's light is a reflection of the sun. The moon doesn't do anything except act as a place for the sun to shine on. So the moon, basking in the sun's warmth, sees itself as worthless, but tells itself that it's important so it doesn't feel entirely worthless. Then it lies to itself so much that the lies become its truth and it wanders away from the sun's light, only to find that it's cold. It remembers that its strength is borrowed from the sun that it's so jealous of... Thus, the cycle continues." Kai gripped the chains of the swing and looked to the ground.

"But the moon is important too!" Aichi shouted.

"What?"

"Without the moon, where would the sunlight go? The stars are too dim to light up the night! And-and you can look at the moon too! And not just during the night, but sometimes in the day too! You can gaze upwards and marvel at its beauty. The sun is warm, yes, but it's cold in its own way. You can't even look at it without hurting your eyes. I prefer the moon!" Aichi inhaled deeply.

"...Said the sun to the moon..." Kai mumbled.

"It was nothing..."

"But-"

"No. It's nothing."

The two sat on the swings and watched the eclipse in silence. Aichi glanced over at Kai who seemed to be in deep thought. His eyes were focused on the moon as it was overshadowed by the earth. Acting on a sudden impulse, Aichi reached over and overlaid his hand on his friend's. Kai's head suddenly turned. His face was barely illuminated by the moon, but Aichi could see his calm facade was lost. He didn't need the bright light to see that Kai's face was in a blush. The brunet cleared his throat.

"I guess it's now or never. Our sun is the closest star to us... It's smaller than many others suns, but it's just right for our solar system... I can feel its warmth from here..."

"But it's night, Kai."

"It's night in the sky, but..." Kai removed both his and Aichi's hand from the rusty chain and interlocked them in the process, "...it's daytime right here and I'm basking in your warmth."

"K-Kai I-" It was Aichi's turn to be flustered.

"Aichi. You're the only sun. I need. I'm not jealous anymore." Kai half lifted himself from the swing and leaned over to Aichi. "In fact, I couldn't live without you... I'm in love with you."

"Kai... The moon's always been there to guide me... What I mean is, I love you too."

And the two shared a kiss under the starry sky.


End file.
